“Charlene, why on earth does Penny dislike you so much?” she asked as she worked.

“Because when we were kids, I told her not to hit her mom.”  The truth, yet not all of it.  Penny was the only one who knew my secret.  Never once did I give the rumors she had started any credence.  But she and I both knew I could do what she claimed.  I could control people with a thought.  I just didn’t let her goad me into doing it openly.

The secretary extracted the gum wad within minutes, only taking a few strands with it.

“Make sure you don’t sit near her at the assembly,” she warned just before I left.

As if I would purposely do so.

I went to the bathroom to check my hair before heading back to class.  Hopefully Penny wasn’t chewing more gum in anticipation of my return.

The door opened behind me.  Penny’s gaze met mine in the mirror.  She wasn’t done with me yet.

“Why?” I asked, turning.  “What do you get from doing this?  You were never mean when we were little.”  She continued to eye me hatefully.  I tried again.  “We were friends once.”

“Ha!” she barked bitterly.  “You were never my friend.  You never listened to me.”

I knew exactly what she meant.  She’d wanted me to use my ability to make her mom look away so we could sneak candy when we went to her house.  She didn’t understand as I did that my ability wasn’t meant for that.  Somehow, I’d always known I shouldn’t misuse my power.

“You always asked too much,” I said sadly.  “Just let this go.”

“No.  At some point you’ll make a mistake, and I want to be there so everyone knows I was right about you.”  She reached out and slapped the books from my arms.  They tumbled to the floor.

“All you’re going to prove is how mean you can be,” I said, glancing down at the books.  She didn’t answer.

When I bent to pick them up, she pushed me over.  I snapped and grabbed hold of her will.

“Stop.”  She froze poised in a half-crouch ready to come after me.  I held her still with my will, but I forced nothing else on her.  I felt bad enough for holding her as I did.

“I’m really sorry, Penny, but this has gone on long enough.  Forget your hate.  Remember the friendship we once had.” I picked up my books and stood.  “Don’t try to hurt me again.”

I walked out the door, intending to get a good head start before I released her.  From behind, I heard her yell through the door.

“I still can’t move!”

Before I rounded the corner, I let go.  For the rest of the day, I managed to avoid her.  When the teachers released their classes for assembly, I followed the flow of students to the gym.  The crowd moved slowly, with the upper classmen claiming the top bleachers.  Sophomores, like me, spread out in the middle.

Sitting on the bleachers, surrounded by the entire student body, I looked around warily for Penny.  She would hate me even more, now, after our confrontation in the bathroom.  I should have made her forget.  I just couldn’t bring myself to mess with someone’s head like that.  It wasn’t like anyone really believed her anyway.  Other than the bullying, she wasn’t a threat to me.  I had no justification for taking the extreme measure of robbing her of her memories.

“As some of you know, there have been cases of bullying.  This is a serious matter that this school will not take lightly.  We have a short film to help educate you on what steps should be taken if you are bullied, or witness bullying.”

The overhead lights dimmed and a beam of light from the AV room near the top of the gym pierced the gloom.  The AV room, a recent addition accessed by a set of stairs outside of the gym, was prized by the faculty as a means to broadcast school news.

A shot of the girl’s bathroom burst onto the white gym wall we used for projection.  My mouth popped open as I saw myself walk into the bathroom and go to the mirror.  Some students near me started laughing quietly.  The faculty, standing on the gym floor, started conferring in whispers as on screen, Penny walked in and we started talking.

One of the teachers left the gym presumably to reach the AV room and stop the movie.  The lights in the gym turned on as Penny knocked the books out of my hand.  No one moved.  Everyone stayed focused on the projection.  My stomach filled with piercing shards of ice.

“The assembly is over.  Return to your last hour class.  Those with Physical Education should go to the locker rooms and wait there,” the principal shouted, unable to use his microphone as the PA had been taken over by my voice, “All you’re going to prove is how mean you can be.”

No one moved.  All eyes remained riveted on Penny as she stared at me, and I moved to retrieve the books.  I could taste my panic, the flavor disgustingly reminiscent of vomit.  Penny had finally succeeded.  Everyone would believe her about me.

I closed my eyes as the recording of my voice rang out.  “Stop.”  A murmuring rose in the gym, loud enough that others started shushing their neighbors as I gave Penny my little speech and then left the bathroom.

Opening my eyes, I caught the angle of the video change as the cameraman climbed off the toilet and opened the stall door to zoom in on Penny’s outraged face.  Penny’s words, “I still can’t move,” echoed through the eerily quiet gym.  The last image on the wall was of Penny suddenly falling to the floor.  The projection shut off.

My face heated unnaturally.  Someone next to me whispered to their neighbor, “Holy crap!  Penny wasn’t lying.”

I sat up in the bleachers, surrounded by my peers.  All eyes turned to me.  A side door opened, and a teacher escorted a beaming Penny into the gym.  As I stood, I grabbed everyone’s will but hers and planted a seed.

“You just witnessed proof of Penny’s dogged determination to expose something extraordinary.  Instead, all she did was paint herself as a bully and show she has an amazing ability to act.”

Releasing their wills, I nudged my way through my stunned classmates.  As I moved, I heard things like, “I can’t believe she was so mean,” and, “I would have slapped her face instead of walking out.”

Penny’s smug expression faltered as she noticed the change in everyone.  Her mouth dropped open as she stared at me.  I walked up to Penny while holding the faculty back with simple wait-and-see thoughts.  I stopped just in front of her.

“Whoever you had filming did a wonderful job,” I said.  “If you’re this good over a no name nothing like me, I can only imagine how good you’ll be when you’re reporting on something real.  Good luck.”

I walked from the gym with my head high.  The sound of whispers faded as I went to my locker and emptied it of everything except the textbooks.  It was more than I could jam in my backpack.  I stared at the loose papers and various work that still needed to be completed.  Then, I threw everything into the trash.  I wouldn’t be back.

I picked up my bag, closed the locker, and made my way to the main entrance.  Any remaining faculty who moved to question me, I turned away with a thought.

Outside, the air smelled of warm blacktop.  Spring was making way for summer.

I stopped on the steps and turned to look back.  Despite releasing the wills of everyone in the gym, I continued to sense their threads.  They still watched Penny.  My throat tightened as I pictured her red, angry face.  I’d made a serious enemy of her as a child, one I’d underestimated all these years.  Her determination to expose me consumed her, and I considered going back to make her forget everything.

Instead, I walked away.

The trek home didn’t take long.  Neither Mom nor Dad was there, yet.  I went to my room, set my backpack on the bed, and looked around.  Memories of a happy childhood decorated my space.  Shells collected from a beach sat next to the barrettes Mom gave me for my last birthday.  I touched the little clips.  I rarely wore them.  I was too old.  But, she didn’t see me that way.  My hand dropped to the first dresser drawer, and I pulled it open.  Slowly, I started to remove the essentials I’d need and placed them in the backpack.